· Brooklyn's Finest
The goal is the bottom
How to reheat pizza is mostly a question about the crust. Cheese will melt again in almost any heat. The bottom is what goes from crisp to damp. A microwave steams the slice. It is fine if you are hungry and the slice is a snack. It is the wrong tool if you cared about the crust the first time. An oven or a skillet puts heat under the dough, which is what the dough wants.
This is leftover advice. It is not a temperature from the ovens at Brooklyn's Finest Pizza, and it is not a promise that every topping behaves the same. A plain cheese slice is the easy case. A slice covered in pineapple or chicken is wetter. Give wet toppings less time, not more.
Oven
Heat the oven hot, around 400 to 450 degrees if that is a normal setting for your oven. Set the slices in one layer on a sheet or directly on the rack if you want more air under them. A couple of minutes is often enough once the oven is actually hot. You are remelting cheese and crisping the bottom, not baking the pie again. Pull them when the cheese is loose and the underside has color. Stacking slices traps steam. Do not stack them.
A toaster oven works for one or two slices. Same idea: hot, one layer, short time. Cold slices from the fridge need a minute more than slices that were only out for an hour. If the cheese browns before the bottom crisps, the oven was too top-heavy. Next time, lower the rack.
Skillet
A dry skillet on medium heat, covered for a minute, crisps the bottom and melts the cheese with the lid on. Take the lid off at the end so the top does not steam. This is the apartment method when you do not want to heat a whole oven for one slice. A little water under the lid is a trick some people use. It also risks a soggy center. Try the dry pan first.
Square slices, Sicilian and grandma, reheat well because they are sturdier. A thick Sicilian wants a little longer than a thin round. Our large pies are cut into 8 slices, which is a useful size for a leftover box. The slice post is that count. Leftover knots want the oven too, not the microwave.
When not to reheat
Pizza that sat out all night is not a reheating project. Refrigerate leftovers the same day. A slice that smells off does not get saved by an oven. Fried items, like a rice ball or a fried Oreo, are a different leftover and usually worse the next day. Eat those when they are made.
Hours run until 10:00 PM, and until 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday. If you wanted the slice hot the first time, eat it at 1250 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10305 or pick it up and eat it soon. Reheating is the plan for the slices you could not finish, not a reason to order a pie you will ignore until Thursday. Order at Order Online, which is order.brooklynsfinestsi.com, or call (718) 815-7070. On an iPhone or iPad, the app sends the same menu.
Give the oven time to get hot before the slice goes in. A cold oven plus a long bake dries the cheese and still leaves the bottom soft. Two or three minutes in a hot oven is the usual window for a round slice. A Sicilian square can take a little longer because the crumb is thicker. Check the underside. If it is still pale, give it another minute. If the cheese is burning, pull it. A skillet is the better tool for a single slice in a small kitchen. Cover it, then uncover it. Do not walk away. Leftover pizza is a short project.
Refrigerate what you did not eat. A box on the counter overnight is not a reheating candidate in the morning. Square slices and round slices can share a sheet. Do not pile knots on top of the cheese. Knots want their own few minutes. And if there are no leftovers because the pie was the right size, you do not need this post. Order the number of slices you will eat. A large is 8. A party that over-orders can use the oven the next day. A party that under-orders cannot reheat food it does not have. Heat the oven first. Use one layer. Pull the slice when the bottom has color and the cheese has loosened. A skillet does the same job for one piece. A microwave only warms it. Refrigerate leftovers the same day. Throw out a slice that sat out overnight. And if you can eat the pie while it is fresh at 1250 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10305, do that instead. Reheating is the second-best way to eat a slice. The first way is to eat it before it is a leftover. Our large is eight slices, which is a sensible box for the next day's lunch if tonight's group was small.
Visit the shop
Brooklyn's Finest Pizza is at 1250 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10305. Call (718) 815-7070.
- Monday – Thursday: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Friday – Saturday: 10:00 AM – 10:30 PM
- Sunday: 10:30 AM – 10:00 PM